Two of Us
by IndecisivePsycho
Summary: Emmanuelle Volkov comes from a very old and prestigious wizarding family, she's finally in her last year, she's the Head Girl, but this year everything seems to be going wrong, starting with who she finds herself confiding in and trusting. SS/OC OOTP-DH ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't that the ceremony wasn't nice- it was, but Severus Snape desperately wished that he could go now. When Vincent Volkov- The creator of W.A.S.P. (Wizards Attending School Program, which was a helpful program, every year they picked a few lucky students that were going into their first year of Hogwarts, usually students from Muggle born families, or who needed financial support and bought them everything they needed, books, wand, robes, etc.)- invited the entire Hogwarts staff to his first daughter Adrianna's wedding, Severus assumed he could skip it, then he was politely informed it was expected of him to go. After the ceremony the reception had been brought to Vincent's manor. The reception was going well, people were dancing, talking, the children were playing games while the bride and groom spoke to members of the wedding party, the family and friends all waiting to speak to the happy couple, and Severus was in search for the bathroom. All of the bathrooms downstairs were being used, but someone told him on the third floor there was a library and through the library was a bathroom, so off Severus went, up two flights of stairs, and down the first hallway on his left, which- of course- was wrong, but by the time Severus realized that, he was so turned around he wasn't quite sure where he had come from. Heaving a sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose he tried to retrace his steps, only to find himself in a hallway he hadn't been in before. "It s come and gone!" a portrait called out to him and he looked at it. It was a painting in oil of one of the Volkov girls, the youngest who would be entering Hogwarts this year. "What's that supposed to mean?" Severus asked, but he got no answer from the painting of the little girl, she just decided to follow him through other paintings as he made his way through the halls, trying desperately to get out of the labyrinth that was Volkov Manor. As he turned down different hallways, the little girl in the painting just kept repeating that sentence, 'It s come and gone' over and over, in a taunting tone.

"I'll never forgive mother for naming you Angel." a strong voice from the end of the hall he had just turned down said and Severus spun around to find himself face to face with the approaching Emmanuelle Volkov, the eldest Volkov girl in school still and the second of the children to be placed into Slytherin. He realized she was glaring at the little girl in the painting before she cleared her throat. "Off to your picture, go on." the girl slinked off and Emmanuelle looked at Severus who was trying to look anything but relieved. "Professor, if you'll follow me, the library is this way." she said before she turned and lead him down the right hallways, soon they were near the stairs again, and Severus let out a small sigh. Thank Merlin. "I know, the house can be a little like Hogwarts at first, confusing and extremely easy to get lost. I'll never forget the first time I got lost in the dungeons." she shook her head.

"Is that when Cole found you?" Professor Snape asked and she nodded with a small chuckle. "Hard to imagine you've made your way all the way to Head Girl." he said and she nodded again.

"I agree." she said softly, before she turned to the left and opened a set of double doors. The library in the Volkov manor almost gave the library at Hogwarts a run for its galleons. "The bathroom is through to the back." she pointed to the east corner of the room. "Right over there." With a quick nod he followed the wall along to the back corner of the room. When he came out and was walking back to where he had seen her sit down, he could hear voices speaking in slightly angered tones.

"He wants you to come downstairs now!" he knew that voice to belong to the eldest, and only male Volkov child, Roman, also the only other student to be in Slytherin

"I can't go down there Roman, not Now." she said softly. "Not with Him watching my every move, trying to connect himself to me at the hip."

"He's Papa's friend." Roman sighed.

"Papa's friend who asks for alone time with me every evening." she said pointedly and Severus took Roman to know what that meant. Severus wasn't sure why he was listening to this- obvious private- conversation, but for one reason or another it intrigued him. Perhaps because it was just as intriguing as the girl who was having the conversation. She was a good student, the top of her class, Head Girl, and yet she seemed to have no friends. Any time off she had she spent with her sisters, and he doubted that was going to change this year. Last year when he was supposed to choose her classes based on what she wanted to do outside of Hogwarts she and her sisters had been pulled out of school for a few days, when they returned they didn't tell anyone where they had been, just that it was family business.

"I know." Roman was saying with a small sigh. "I've tried to talk to Papa about it..."

"So it's true then?" she asked. "He's asked?"

"No, no, not yet." Roman said and Severus heard Emmanuelle sigh. "But... I don't doubt he will."

"Roman, I have no intentions of becoming Mrs. Emmanuelle Karkaroff." she said and it was Roman's turn to sigh. Severus however was suddenly much more interested in the conversation. How was it he had missed seeing Karkaroff here? This is where the slime had run off to after the Triwizard tournament. Snape scowled and made it a point to mention this to Dumbledore. He had a feeling he would also be mentioning this to another person...

"Look, Pavel is here, and so is Mikal and a few of the others. I'll ask Pavel or someone to dance with you and keep an eye on you. You like Pavel don't you?"

"Of course I like Pavel." she said. "But I just don't want to go down there, you know how I feel about gatherings." she sighed.

"Papa thinks you wish to disrespect Adrianna."

"Why does it always have to be about respect?" she sighed. "I'll be down in a little while, okay?" she asked and Severus heard Roman start to walk away.

"Oh, and one last thing, we're going to Diagon alley tomorrow at ten."

"Okay Roman." she said and Severus could hear the annoyance in her voice. A few moments later the double doors closed and Emmanuelle popped up at the end of the bookshelf he was leaning on. "You can come out now." she said and he looked up at her.

"So this is where Karkaroff ran off." he said simply and she nodded.

"Unfortunitaly."

"Why?"

"He believes Papa can use his influence to protect him from the Dark Lord." she said and Severus raised his eyebrow.

"You believe he's back?" he asked.

"Well Cedric Diggory didn't just drop dead on his own." she shrugged, her eyes flickered over to his left forearm, where his Dark Mark was under his robes. As they walked out from behind the bookshelf she suddenly gasped. "Professor, look out!" she grabbed the front of his robed and yanked him towards her quickly, stumbling slightly at the force the girl pulled him with he managed to look behind him and the bookshelf they had been next to suddenly (and rather violently) swung out, and sped down the aisle. "The bookcases are like the stairs at school." she explained before letting go of the front of his robes. "Sorry." It was then Severus realized this was the most he had spoken to a Volkov child- with the exception of Roman- The girls were so secretive, always keeping together, never letting outsiders in and only speaking in classes when spoken to, it was no wonder he really didn't know much about them. "We should go back downstairs." Emmanuelle was saying as she looked at the clock in the library.

"Are you sure you'll be able to find the way?" Severus asked dryly and she chuckled lightly.

"I may be the only Volkov who knows the house as well as I do." she smiled as she looked back at her head of house and potions professor, her bright icy green eyes sparkling with amusement as they walked out of the library. When they got down to the party a young man with thick shoulders, a thick neck and a babyish face and curly short blonde hair approached the two.

"May I have this dance?" he asked looking at Emmanuelle with a small knowing smirk.

"Oh very well Pavel." she said as she took his hand and stepped down the remaining two steps with him. Looking back at Severus she smiled softly and he just gave her the slightest of nods. The two stepped onto the dance floor and Severus couldn't help but watch as they danced, Pavel was a big man and Emmanuelle, though she wasn't short, she was only 5'5", looking puny compared to Pavel who was also very thick- not fat, but wide, he had a sort of thick build to him. As he spun Emmanuelle around she laughed before twirling back to him, the second time she was spun her eyes caught Severus' gaze, the moment their eyes connected she smiled brightly, and his Dark Mark burned as it had been since June. Scowling he quickly made his way to the door, not noticing the disappointed eyes that followed, she shrugged it off, he was a temperamental man, six- going on seven- years of going to school and being taught by him made her well aware of that, but what she wasn't aware of was that when he was outside he caught a glimpse of her through the window, happily dancing with Pavel, then he saw him- Igor Karkaroff interrupting their dance. Severus' lip curled slightly, The Dark Lord would definitely be hearing about this. And with a pop- he was gone. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next few weeks went by rather quickly, Severus being called more often to Death Eater meetings, and Emmanuelle getting ready for the upcoming school year- her last school year. She had been appointed Head girl, something neither of the elder Volkovs managed to do, while Angel was on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to stress over which house she would be sorted into Odette- who was fifteen and a rightful Ravenclaw- was ready to go back to school, this being her fifth year the only thing she was really stressed about were her O.W.L.s, Emmanuelle had it a little harder, she had N.E.W.T.s and was taking Potions, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Divination. Sylvie Volkov had no major upcoming exams as a third year Gryffindor, but she could understand her elder sisters pain and was truly dreading having to go through that herself. As the younger girls sat in Emmanuelle's room while she packed the night before they had to travel to London, they watched with envy as their sister got to perform magic out of school- nothing major, she was packing her clothes and everything by hand (with the exception of her books and other large things she shrunk so they would fit in her already very large trunk), but she had enchanted bits of paper to resemble little origami snakes, badgers, lions and ravens and had them running around in the air, landing on her younger sisters outstretched hands and silently roaring, or making their respective animal sounds. "What house do you think I'll be in?" Angel asked for the millionth time that night as Emmanuelle refolded a shirt and put it in her trunk.

"I'm sure I don't know Angel. Whichever one the sorting hat deems fit for you to join."

"But which do you think?" she insisted.

"Not Ravenclaw." Odette said simply from the window seat she was sitting on, she had opened the window and the warm August wind flowed through the room.

"Odette." Emmanuelle said sharply.

"What? I know her, she won't be a Ravenclaw."

"Why would I want to be a Ravenclaw?" Angel asked defensively. "They're all bookworms anyways." she sniffed and Emmanuelle smiled lightly.

"With an attitude like that she could very well be a Slytherin." Sylvie said and Angel's eyes widened.

Nu-uh!" she paused, then looked at Emmanuelle. "Sorry." she said and Emmanuelle shrugged.

"What house do you want to be in Angel?"

"Gryffindor!" she said looking to Sylvie for her approval. Sylvie shrugged and Odette rolled her eyes as she turned back to the window

"The hat takes your decision into consideration." Emmanuelle said as she put some undergarments into the drawer in her trunk.

"Does it really?" she asked and Emmanuelle nodded.

"Of course," she said, but then stopped and turned to her younger sister. "But don't think that it won't go against your wishes if it believes a different house would be best." she said seriously.

"Because if the sorting hat thinks you belong in Slytherin, then you'll be put in Slytherin. If it think you'll make a good Ravenclaw, you'll be annoying Odette in the Ravenclaw common room every night." she cast a teasing glance to the fifteen year old who rolled her eyes.

"Thanks." she said sarcastically before there was a knock on the door. Looking to the door Emmanuelle nodded to Sylvie who walked over to it and opened it before casting a glance in Emmanuelle's direction. The door opened all the way and Igor Karkaroff stood there

"Could I haff a vord?" he asked with his thickly accented gruff voice.

"Let's go to the library, it would not be proper-"

"Your father has given his permission." he said quickly. Looking to her sisters who all awaited her response, she finally gave a small nod, the origami papers had since fallen to the floor and she was left alone as Odette was the last to slowly walk out, casting Karkaroff a dark look as she did he quickly shut the door behind her, effectively pushing her out of the doorway with a yelp. Emmanuelle's back was to him as she stood at her bed, folding the last of her clothes, he walked up behind her and laid a hand on her right arm before leaning down to kiss her left shoulder, exposed only because she was wearing a white tank top to pack in. His facial hair scratched her shoulder and she tensed up, looking away from him. "Very soon." he said and she tried to pull away only to find he had wrapped an arm around her waist. "Of course nothing is official..." he said holding her close, her chest started to tighten up in panic before he slowly let go. "But it vill be." he said as he spun her around so she was facing him.

"Your only interest in my family is in self preservation, but I fear nothing will be able to stop the Dark Lord when he finds out you've been hiding here." she said in a moment of very rare defiance. Karkaroff stared at her in shock of her little outburst before he smiled smugly.

"You think that now," he said as he pushed her hair behind her ear, burying his face in her thick tightly curled blonde hair, inhaling deeply she shuttered and he tightened his grip, obviously misunderstanding her shutter for one of excitement father then disgust.

"Igor, please, this isn't honorable!" she pleaded and he moaned softly, something the young girl didn't understand was how much it meant to a man to hear her utter his name. He finally pulled away and roughly took her chin in his hand, the tears building up of fear and disgust clouded her ice green eyes and he smirked.

"Don't worry my sweet, end of the term and we'll be wed." she refused to meet his eyes as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers forcefully, then pulled back at a knock on the door

"Come in!" she called a little too quickly for Karkaroff's pleasure, the door opened and she sighed in relief seeing Roman glaring daggers at Karkaroff who was slow in letting go of her. She pulled away quickly and stepped back a few feet, giving the older man the same dark look as she wiped her eyes.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning at ten." he said as Igor stepped to the doorway, Roman was blocking most of the doorway, so Igor really had to squeeze past the intimidating twenty year old. As soon as Igor was out of the room Roman stepped inside and slammed the door shut, Emmanuelle rushed to him and threw her arms around his shoulders tightly. "Did he touch you?" he asked and she nodded in his shoulder. "I'll kill him." he growled and Emmanuelle put her hand on his face.

"No, Roman, don't." she said knowing very well if he really wanted to he could very easily kill the older man.

"Elle he touched you."

"I know, but don't kill him." she pleaded. "Tell Papa, maybe it will influence his decision. Karkaroff said nothing was final."

"Nothing is final." he agreed. "But, you have packing to finish." he said with a small nod. She looked at her clothes before she picked up her wand- 13" redwood with a dragon heartstring core- and waved it at her bed. Everything flew into her trunk neatly and it closed with a loud definitive snap.

"Finished." she said simply. "I should go check on the other girls, make sure they've finished packing." she said and he chuckled as he threw his arm around her shoulders. "Head girl." he muttered and she smirked gently. By this time tomorrow she would be at Hogwarts and she could pretend like none of this had happened. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day they left the house at ten in the morning, choosing to travel by portkey to King's Cross. As they walked through the station, each of their beautifully polished trunks sat on their own carts as they approached the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. "Ready Ange?" Sylvie asked. Angel looked at her sisters and older brother and then nodded slowly it was their custom for the youngest to go first and so on. She walked through the platform, giving a small squeal as her trolley would have hit the stone wall, but didn't. Emmanuelle chuckled as Sylvie ran through the wall, and Odette walked through calmly, she looked at Roman who offered his hand and she took it before stepping onto the platform.

"Emmanuelle," Roman said softly as they followed their younger sisters. "Pavel asked me to give this to you." he said holding a letter to her.

"What is it?"

"He didn't say, he just said to give it to you." he responded simply.

"Emmanuelle, we'd better get a compartment." Sylvie said quickly and she nodded before looking at Roman.

"Have a good year." he said as he held her hand in his, she nodded and he sighed as he lowered his voice. "I will do my best."

"Thank you Roman." she said before she shrunk her trunk and carried it to the train, finding a compartment for her sisters. When she got them settled and their trunks put up she went to the Prefect carriage. "Hey." the Head Boy, James Dhey said as she walked in.

"Hello James." she said simply, pushing her blonde curls behind her ear. "What've we got?"

"New Prefects." he handed the sheet of names to her. "We've also got the fifth years from last year and the ones who were Prefects with us."

"Right, I know how the system works." she said as she looked at the new names.

"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Parkinson." she nodded to the two fifth years she knew.

"Father sends his regards." Malfoy said and she nodded simply. She didn't care how much he sucked up, she didn't play favorites. As for James, he was weak willed and weak minded, making her wonder why he was picked for Head Boy.

"Ms. Granger," she nodded to the girl who nodded back. "Mr. Weasley, I hope you'll be able to have some form of control over your brothers." the red haired boy scoffed and his female counterpart elbowed him in the ribs hardly. "Ms. Abbott, Mr. Macmillan." she said as she looked at them. "Ms. Patil, where is Mr. Goldstein?" right as she asked the compartment door opened and Mr. Goldstein walked in looking flushed.

"Sorry." he said softly.

"I expect promptness when meetings are called, Mr. Goldstein."

"I'm sorry." he said as he sat down next to Padma Patil.

The next hour was spent with Emmanuelle and James explaining everything to the new prefects, the sixth year prefects telling little stories or giving tips and then ended with Emmanuelle and James having them go on patrol of the train. When they got to the castle Emmanuelle pointed Angel in the correct direction to go and hung back briefly to make sure the girl got to the boats okay, and then got a horseless carriage for herself and her sisters. They went to the castle silently; their minds on what house their youngest sister would be sorted into.

"What if she's a Hufflepuff?" Sylvie said softly, breaking the silence.

"Then she's a Hufflepuff. She's still our sister." Odette snapped looking at the younger Gryffindor dangerously.

"Hush." Emmanuelle said breaking the tension between sisters. "Adrianna was a Hufflepuff, do we think any differently of her?"

"No." they both said softly and Emmanuelle nodded.

"No matter what house she's in, she will always be our sister. We will treat her no differently, and she will be no different. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes." they both said gently. They got to the castle and the three girls got out of the carriage, the students didn't pay any attention to the white cloaks the three girls wore, it was something they had been used to as long as the girls had been in school. Emmanuelle lead her sisters inside, moving into the Great Hall, she watched as they got to their respective tables before she turned and went back to the entrance way, ushering people inside she quickly caught sight of Draco Malfoy chatting up a pretty brunette third year.

"Mr. Malfoy." she said as she walked over to him. "Ms. Groves, into the great hall." the girl ducked into the great hall. He sighed and she shook her head. "You'll have other opportunities." she said. "Have you seen Ms. Parkinson?"

"No."

"Well when you do see her, let her know that you and her are expected to escort the first years to the Slytherin common room and explain the dorms and where the bathrooms are." she said before she caught sight of the first years being lead to the entrance room. "Into the hall Malfoy." she said as she caught sight of Angel. The poor girl looked like she was going to be sick. She gave a small reassuring smile to her sister before she went into the great hall and sat down at the Slytherin table. Let the sorting begin. 


	4. Chapter 4

So, hey guys, I just want to say, I haven't gotten any feedback or anything on the story so I was hoping before I post the next chapter I could a review or two, I mean, it would be nice to know what you all think of the story so far. Thanks, and enjoy! -IP

As Professor McGonagall put the sorting hat down on the stool the first years would sit on to be sorted it suddenly burst out into song. After the end of the lengthy song Emmanuelle frowned as she looked at her hands, she had a feeling this year was going to be very... Eventful. Her eyes met with Odette's as Angel was called. The young girl shakily stepped up to the sorting hat and it was placed on her head. After a moment the hat opened it's brimmed mouth.

"Hufflepuff." it announced and Emmanuelle let out a small sigh as Angel looked straight to her. Emmanuelle smiled brightly at the younger girl and clapped along with everyone as Professor McGonnagall took the hat off of the young girl's head. Rather than walking to the Hufflepuff table Angel rushed to Emmanuelle who stood up when she saw her sister coming her direction. An eruption of giggles and gasps broke across the great hall as Emmanuelle put her arm around her sisters shoulders and urgently whispered in the young girls ear. After a moment Angel nodded and quickly went to the Hufflepuff table. Emmanuelle looked at the staff table and her eyes met the headmasters. She offered him a light smile he returned before she went back to the Slytherin table and sat down. After the last girl got sorted Dumbledore stood up.

"To our newcomers," his twinkling eyes landed on Angel. "Welcome! To our old hands- Welcome back!" There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" with those words food appeared on all of the tables, everyone started serving themselves, talking to each other about their breaks and about everything they deemed important enough to talk about. As Emmanuelle looked over to the Hufflepuff table she saw Angel talking to a second year boy. She sighed gently to herself, glad Angel was getting along with people in her house. As she looked over the staff table she realized three things,

1) the Care of Magical Creatures teacher Hagrid was gone and had been replaced by Professor Grubbly-Plank, a no-nonsense woman who, while she taught the general classes, she was pretty unimaginative. 2) There was a Ministry official sitting at the table, and while she had never spoken to this frog-like woman she had seen her during the summer when she accompanied her father and brother to the Ministry of Magic. 3) The Head of her house, Severus Snape was looking right at her.

She met his dark eyes and for a moment that seemed like an hour before he looked away from her, and to Professor Sprout who had just asked him something. Emmanuelle looked over at Sylvie who was walking over to her.

"What do you want Gryffindor?" one of the Slytherin first years asked rudely, trying to make an impression to the older students. Most of them would have laughed had it not been Sylvie Volkov walking over. For the most part no one in Hogwarts could find any reason to fault the Volkov girls, they kept to themselves, and were extremely loyal, though very secretive. Emmanuelle Volkov had the highest marks in her class, and it surprised no one when she became head girl. No one laughed along as both the Volkov girls turned their cold glare on the first year who instantly realized his mistake and grew silent as Sylvie looked the students over, then looked at her sister. The two conversed in a language unknown to the rest of the Slytherin students, though you could often hear the Volkov girls speaking it, and Sylvie went to the Ravenclaw table, then to the Hufflepuff table where it was assumed she was speaking that odd language. After the feast, the headmaster was giving his speech when he was interrupted by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a woman named Deloris Umbridge as they found out who did something no other teacher had done, made a speech, though her speech was worded carefully if one were to pick through the words and really think about it, which is what Odette did and Emmanuelle both did, she was talking about the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts. Emmanuelle sighed to herself. This certainly was going to be an interesting year. 


	5. Chapter 5

_**I'd like to say thank you to aliceAmnesia, and Moony The SheWolf for being to first ones to review, to aliceAmnesia the plot is still developing, give me a little time. I hope this was a little easier to read, though I'm used to doing large chunks of detail- or trying to. To Moony The SheWolf, yeah, I agree, I didn't like Igor, but I was curious about what happened between the end of Goblet of Fire and when he's mentioned in the Order of the Phoenix. Thanks again for reviewing you guys, this chapter is for you!**_

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><p>The Head girl and Head Boy were given their own private rooms on the third floor of the castle, the head girl's room was next to the bust of the witch who invented the hover charm. "Serpentis honos." she said and a large picture of an angel playing the harp opened allowing her to walk in. The room she was in was like a small common room, there was a couch and a desk along with a large fireplace that already had a nice fire roaring in it. A few pictures lined the room, and it had a purple and gold color scheme going on. She smiled as she walked into the bedroom and found a four poster bed her trunk was at the foot of it, a bedside table, a bookshelf and a closet. She unpacked her trunk and took some parchment and quills to the desk in her study room, as she decided she would call it. She sat down and wrote a letter to her older brother.<p>

_Dear Roman, _

_Angel is the newest Hufflepuff student in the family, and to be honest, I think we all saw it coming, though I think she held some hope that she would be a Gryffindor like Sylvie. Being the head girl has it's advantages, as I get my own room, and no longer have to listen to Cordelia Groves snoring all night. I do have to go on patrol every night, and I am expected to oversee the prefects as they go about their work. We have a new Defense against the dark arts teacher, a woman named Deloris Umbridge, and though her name had escaped me I recognized her the moment I saw her as the woman you and father spoke to momentarily at the Ministry of magic this summer. Who is she? Will you please send me my ivy scarf in my wardrobe in my room and the matching gloves in the top left drawer of the gray dresser in my closet, I have a feeling it will be a cold winter and I seemed to have forgotten to pack those. Give my regards to Adrianna and William, and let them know about Angel please. How is Pavel? Please let him know I'm thinking of him. If you could say that in front of father you will be my hero forever. I'm scared of what decisions he'll be making this year regarding his friend staying at the house. Please don't forget to send the scarf and gloves. _

_Your loving sister, _

_Emmanuelle. _

_P.S. Tell mother I left the potion in the kitchen for her if she has not already found it. Ichabod knows where it is_.

Emmanuelle dried the letter and sealed it with a wax seal proudly displaying her family crest, a wolf with a large peacock perched on its back, and waited for that to dry before she slipped the letter into the pocket of her cloak and walked out of her room. She met James at the stairs and they went downstairs where they started patrol to make sure no students were out of bed, after the first night they would have the prefects to cover more ground, but tonight they were just checking the great hall and the paths leading to the common rooms.

"I'll patrol the dungeons if you do Gryffindor tower." Emmanuelle offere, knoing how much James hated the dungeons.

"Sounds good to me." he nodded and she gave him a small nod before she went downstairs to the dungeons.

"Hello Ms. Volkov." a voice said and she smiled turning to see the Bloody Baron.

"Hello sir." she smiled politely. "How are you?" she had met the bloody baron in her first year when she was often getting lost in the dungeons. Half the time it was of her own doing, each time she got lost it made her more and more determined to know her way around the dungeons, even the areas no one went in anymore. The baron was often the only one who found her, and lead her out of there or alerted other students- though usually it was her older brother, and if he was busy, professor Snape found himself being ordered by a ghost to go retrieve the headstrong young girl from whatever fate she had gotten herself into.

"I am quite well and yourself?" he asked as he glided along with her slowly.

"I'm happy to be back at Hogwarts. Once you spend so much time here it feels odd going back home."

"I imagine it does. I've been here so long I can't imagine what it must be like to leave the grounds."

"If you'll permit me to ask, can ghosts leave the grounds?"

"Some of us can, others are bound to the castle, like myself." he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir."

"Do not fret young one." he said gently. She finished her rounds and bid the spirit good night before she went upstairs to the owlery and called down an owl. She held her arm out as the large barn owl landed on it and it let her tie the letter to its leg before she walked to the window and told it where to go. He flew off with a small hoot and she watched as he disappeared into the distance, then went back to her room for some sleep. Tomorrow was, after all, the first day of classes.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Hey All, sorry it's taken me so long to get to posting this chapter, I had a rough time getting through the holidays, I had about four anxiety attacks in two weeks, and it wasn't fun! Anyhoo, I hope you all had fabulous holidays, and you enjoyed yourselves, this is kind of a short chapter, but I'll be making up for it in the next chapter, which should be out by early next week..._**

**_P.S. If you haven't seen the new Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film, I'd suggest you rent the Swedish version and save yourself the $15 a ticket to the cinemas would cost. I just saw it, and I didn't like it all all. But, that's just me. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter!_**

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><p>The next day Emmanuelle woke up early and got ready for her day. She dressed quickly and went to the great hall where she made herself busy buttering a slice of toast and pouring herself a cup of coffee. While she sipped her coffee Severus Snape came around, handing out schedules. "That was quite a display of the Volkov family bond last night." he said in a tone that she assumed was meant to be taunting or teasing. She wasn't sure which.<p>

"Thank you professor, we Volkovs pride ourselves on being close." she said as she reached out for the schedule. She took it but he did not let go at first.

"I couldn't help but notice you're taking my advanced N.E.W.T. class." he said looking into her pale green eyes with his own dark ones. "A warning to the wise; this is the hardest class you'll attempt." he said and she smiled gently, which honestly surprised him.

"Professor, if I didn't think the class would be a challenge do you honestly think I would have taken it?" she asked, her smile growing as she spoke. He let go of the schedule and turned his attention off of her and to the two new students who had sat down and were warily looking over at him. A moment later owls started to fly in, some bringing parcels of forgotten items, some bringing the Daily Prophet to students and teachers alike. Emmanuelle smiled as Professor Sinistra walked over to her.

"Good morning Emmanuelle." she said warmly. "I trust your summer was well?"

"Yes, and Adrianna would like me to thank you for the lovely gift you gave her, she says it looks stunning in their living room." the astronomy professor had given Adrianna and Guy (her husband) a beautiful painting of the northern lights that showed the phenomena as it looked every night.

"I'm glad they enjoy it." Professor Sinistra smiled. "I was pleased to see you'll be returning to my class this year. Looks like I have the full set of Volkov girls." Emmanuelle smiled gently and nodded. "Oh, looks like I have an owl." she said before patting Emmanuelle's shoulder and leaving. Emmanuelle smiled to herself before she walked over to Angel and looked at the girl's schedule. She sighed seeing the young girl had potions with Professor Snape directly after lunch, but was happy to see she had Charms first. After seeing Sylvie had a class right near Charms (Muggle Studies) she had the third year walk Angel to her class when the two were finished eating. Odette had History of Magic with the Gryffindors first and that left Emmanuelle with Transfiguration. Her schedule for the day was Double Herbology, Divination, and then nothing until that night when she had Astronomy.

That Friday Emmanuelle had her first N.E.W.T.s potions class, she got to class and sat down in the second row, looking around she noticed it was a very small class. Three Ravenclaws, two Gryffindors, one other Slytherin student aside from herself, and a very, _very_ brave Hufflepuff. As people talked amongst themselves the door from Professor Snape's office opened and he came walking in briskly, his robes flowing behind him in the manner that had earned him the nickname of the dungeon bat. He stopped at the front of the room and looked the students over.

"Being this is your seventh year in the castle I expect you know how to act in my class. In this class you will be brewing some of the most complex potions you have ever brewed and for some of you, ever will. If I think for even a moment that you aren't taking your task seriously, you will be dismissed. Today we will be seeing where your abilities lie. Pick a potion you can finish in the two hours you have an present it to me." he waved his wand at the store cupboards and they flew open. "You will find everything you need." he said before he sat down at his desk and started working on grading papers.

"What potion are you going to do?" Devon Chandler asked Emmanuelle and she shrugged.

"Not sure yet, how about you?" she asked and he smiled.

"I figured I'd do a calming draught." he said and then lowered his voice. "Maybe we can slip it to ol' Snape and get him to chill out some." he grinned and Emmanuelle rolled her eyes.

"He's not that bad." she said softly and he let out a loud laugh that he tried to cover (rather unsuccessfully) with a cough. He quickly made himself busy getting the ingredients from the store cupboards as Emmanuelle pulled a book of potions from her bag, looking for the one she had decided to do.

"Professor," she said softly and Snape looked over at her, she was looking through the cupboards and apparently couldn't find something. "Professor do you have any Harpy feathers?" she asked and he couldn't help the look of surprise on his face.

"What do you think you're brewing?" he asked as he stood up and moved closer to her.

"A Persuasiveness Potion." she said and he stared down at her for a long moment before turning around and walking to his office. A moment later he returned and handed her a small bottle. Everyone in the class was staring in awe. Snape _Never_ gave students ingredients from his private stores.

"Have you ever brewed a persuasiveness potion?" he asked lowly and she nodded.

"Once." she said gently. "I convinced my father I needed to stay in school." she said before she raised her voice. "Thank you professor." she said and went back to her table where Devon was trying really hard not to stare at her.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey there, I decided to post this chapter a little sooner then I thought I would! (More like I finished it sooner then I thought I would, but I digress...) I think this chapter is a little longer then usual, I'm trying to write them to be longer (MistyMoira, thank you for the review, hope this is better!). Also, thank you to ShelleySnape for reviewing, I hope that you are enjoying the rest of the series as much (Or even better) then you enjoyed the first chapter! With that, I would also like to say that in no way shape or form do I own Harry Potter, Severus Snape or anything you may even remotely recognize in this story. I own the Volkovs and nothing more. With that being said, I now give you chapter seven!

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><p>The next day Emmanuelle woke up and dressed before going to the Great Hall. There weren't as many kids as usual, it was the first Saturday after all and she expected everyone to be sleeping in. She sat down and poured herself a coffee then served herself some eggs and toast. As she ate she thought about the coming up week and everything she would be doing. She thought about Hogsmead and knew that since it was Sylvie's third year she would be able to go now. It was with these thoughts that she almost didn't notice the large owl land in front of her until it gave a small hoot. "Oh!" she said snapping out of her thoughts. "Thank you." she untied the letter and the owl flew off letting her open her letter, a small package was attacked to it.<p>

_Emmanuelle, do you have any idea how hard it is to find things in your closet? Thank Merlin Pavel came over to talk to me because I fear if he hadn't I might have gotten lost in there forever. I did as you asked though and I pray those are the right scarf and gloves, if not, ask mama, or Adrianna because I will not lose myself in that labyrinth again. Papa has been away on business, and Mama says thank you for brewing as many potions as you did. Ichabod has cleverly disguised them so Igor will not ask questions. When Papa returns I will do the other thing you asked and talk to Pavel about how much you miss him. Pavel wishes to know if you opened the letter he had me give you at Kings Cross. I will be doing some work in London again, and I will get your information on the new Hogwarts DADA teacher. I've heard her name before and I don't know why. _

_Your obedient older brother,_

_Roman_

Emmanuelle couldn't help but chuckle at his letter before she folded it up and put it in her pocket. She would answer it later. After she finished her breakfast she decided she would get a head start on the homework she had to have done, she lifted her right hand and looked at the wolf's head ring on her right middle finger. She softly stroked the muzzle of the ring and it's green eyes lit up.

"Meet me in the library at eleven." she said into the ring, when she stopped speaking the eyes dulled, showing the message had been sent. Every Volkov had one, and when they were at school it only worked between the students at Hogwarts. With that she stood up, draining her coffee and walked to her room. She got the books and parchment she would need before she walked to the library.

"Good morning Ms. Pince." Emmanuelle said softly. The older dark haired woman looked up from the books she was stamping. The older woman looked her over then nodded to her as Emmanuelle walked to a secluded area of the library where she had found very few people ever went. She sat down at a table and opened her bag. She pulled a few books out of the bag and some of her parchment. She picked up a quill and her ink pot and decided to work on her essay for professor Snape's class.

It was 10:15 when Severus Snape went to the library, holding a library book he had taken from a student. "Madam Prince," he said softly and she looked up at him as he held out the book. "It was taken from the student who checked it out for throwing it at another student during my second year class." he explained softly. A look of horror crossed the older woman's face as she snatched the book out of his hands. He turned and walked into the library. He found a book he wanted to read and went to the area he used to sit in when he was a student studying and didn't want Potter and his friends to come across him, only to come across Emmanuelle Volkov, sitting in the same corner he used to sit in, her papers strew about on the table, she was concentrating on a page in her book and was writing notes down on the parchment next to her.

"Yes, a student in the library on a Saturday," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. "Unheard of."

"It would explain why you're the number one in your class." he said lowly as he went to the second table in the area and sat down. "I didn't think many people know about this area."

"They don't." she muttered as she flipped through the pages of the book and found another section she had marked with a small scrap of paper. He looked over at her as she scrawled down something, paused and closed her eyes momentarily before opening them again and moving her notes paper and dipping her quill into the ink and starting her paper. Severus watched as she wrote quickly, and then turned his eyes back to his book, her quill scratching the parchment, and the occasional pause so she could dip her quill in the ink, or reread what she had written. As Severus found himself re-reading the same line he had been re-reading for the past few minutes he found himself overcome to turn to her and ask her the question that had been bugging him since she had potions class with him.

"Your father tried to pull you from school?" he asked softly, breaking the silence between them both. She looked up as though she didn't register that he had spoken for a moment, then let the question sink in.

"Oh," she whispered. "Yes."

"After the Final Task?" he questioned and she shook her head as she lay her quill down.

"In my fourth year." she said softly. "I- well, there had been an offer." she shrugged with a small blush.

"An offer?"

"For marriage." she said softly and he frowned.

"And your father considered letting you marry at fourteen?"

"My father considered many things." she nodded. "He was going to send me to a muggle finishing school, the one my mum went to in France." she looked back at her hands and cleared her throat. "I'm not proud of slipping the persuasiveness potion in his drink, but I think I can do more in life then just marry and make babies." she shook her head and looked down at her essay.

"Ms. Volkov, I don't remember having a guidance meeting with you." he said after a moment of thought.

"That's because we didn't have one." she said softly. "My father pulled us out of school for a week."

"Why?"

"It's not important." she said and looked up at him. "I don't have high hopes for my future professor, I just want to get through this year." she admitted, and picked at the tip of the feather quill she was using.

"What is it you want to do after Hogwarts?" he asked and she thought for a moment before blushing and shaking her head.

"Its dumb." she said and started to write again.

"Ms. Volkov, as the head of your house, and the one you'll need to go to for recommendations when you leave, tell me what you want to do." he said and she nodded.

"I'd like to open an apothecary." she said quietly. "But it'll never happen." she looked back at her essay and started writing again, this time he stayed quiet, letting himself mull over what she had told him. She was a very bright girl, and was the head of her class, she was taking Herbology and had stayed in Potions, and it was obvious, by her obsessing scratching of the quill she held in her left hand- why he had never noticed she was left handed before he didn't know, nor did he know why he noticed it now- she was a very driven young woman, so the only reason she could not fulfill her (rather surprising) dream he assumed had something to do with her close knit, and run on tradition, family.

Almost on cue the remaining Volkov girls filed into the library, each holding their bags, Angel looking tired and confused about why she was there, but when she caught sight of Emmanuelle writing her essay she groaned in realization, earning a dirty look from Madam Pince. The girls sat down and after catching sight of Professor Snape they began to converse quite softly in a different language. He stood, his eyes locked on Emmanuelle who looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. He stared down at her for a moment before she smiled faintly at him, then turned those ice green eyes away from him and answered whatever it was one of her sisters had said to her, and he walked out of the library, his long black cloak billowing behind him in the same fashion that had earned him the nickname of the dungeon bat, intimidating any student that crossed his path. If he had looked back at Emmanuelle he'd have noticed the small smirk plastered on her face as she watched him leave, which didn't go unnoticed by Odette.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys, here's a new chapter for you, Sorry, there's no Severus in this one, but he'll be in the next one! Hope you like it! Don't forget to Review! When I get reviews I get inspiration to post again! (Hint hint)

And, just to cover myself, I don't own Harry Potter, Severus Snape, or anyone you may recognize, the only ones I own are the Volkovs.

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><p>For most of the next week Emmanuelle was busy with her school work, and her duties as Head Girl. It seemed she always had something to do, and was often times up late finishing off her schoolwork just to stay on top. She sat in the library trying to work on some work, but with the couple snogging in the bookshelf right near her she found it impossible to get any work done. Rather than reprimand them herself (she had found herself getting a lot more snippy with students due to her lack of sleep and was trying to be fair), she sighed gently and then decided to go talk to Professor Trelawney, something she hardly had time to do these days.<p>

Which isn't to say she didn't point the pair out to Madam Pince who instantly was closing in on them like a hawk when Emmanuelle walked out of the library. As a girl who was very logical in her belief system it would come to a shock to most who would see her enter the North tower, mostly because they didn't believe she would subject herself to such folly, but Emmanuelle found something relaxing about the incense scented room and the strange woman they all had come to know as something of a dingbat.

"Oh yes, hello dear, please, do sit down." Professor Trelawney said when Emmanuelle said she'd like to have a chat. She sat in one of the large overstuffed armchairs and sighed as Professor Trelawney poured two cups of tea. "How have you been, aside from classes I've seen so little of you my dear.

"I've been busy." Emmanuelle admitted. "I honestly don't remember a time when I was this busy, though I suppose what with it being my last year and all..." she sighed and then gave a small laugh.

"Yes yes, but think, then you can go about your life, you are destined to do great things my dear." the oddly dressed woman patted the younger woman's hand and Emmanuelle's eyes darkened lightly.

"The only think I am destined to do outside of school is marry a man I have no interest in and make children I do not want." she said and looked at her teacher and smiled gently. "It's funny, growing up I thought I could be anything I wanted to be, but now, I realize, my entire life has been planned from the start, and to do what isn't expected of me would be to commit treason to my family." she sighed. "I don't want to get married- not yet anyways." she shrugged.

"Dear, the future is something that any of us can change simply by making the right decisions." BrBrBR "I thought that the future was already decided, if that's so, how do we change the outcome of things?" It was one of her favorite debates, and boy did Professor Trelawney bite the bait, the two conversed and debated for close to two hours, and then they walked to dinner together. Emmanuelle stepped away from the teacher at one point to break up an argument between four third years, and escort them to the Great Hall, then went to dinner. After dinner there was a meeting for the Prefects Head boy and girl, then they went on patrol and finally to bed. Emmanuelle was spent, she was exhausted, and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed, but she had to stay up and finish a few more paragraphs for her Potions essay. Writing about potions, she found, was a good way to spend her time, she understood it, and she loved the subject, thus making her time fly by like nothing.

The next morning Emmanuelle was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, early, as always, sipping her coffee and trying to work out a schedule in her head when an owl landed in front of her with the paper. "Thank you." she said as she put a knut in its bag. It took some of the toast she offered, gave a small hoot, and flew off. She opened the paper and stared at the front page for a good long moment before lowering the paper slightly and letting her eyes go to the Teacher's table. Professor Umbridge looked positively giddy sitting there with her fluffy pink cardigan and ugly bow in her hair, smirking like the child who got others in trouble by running to mummy. It made Emmanuelle sigh, then look back at her paper.

"You've got to be kidding me." she muttered scarcely loud enough for herself to hear. It wasn't until her Charms class that afternoon that she saw exactly what was going on with this whole 'High Inquisitor' nonsense she had read about. She sat near the Weasley twins, thinking it best to keep an eye on them (though she safely put a student between her and Fred Weasley- just in case. Professor Flitwick was, of course, more then accommodating to her, treating her like she was some form of valued guest, near the end of the class Umbridge took it upon herself to walk up to Emmanuelle while she was putting her stuff away. BrBrBr "Care to explain why you're packing up Ms. Valker?"

"Volkov." Emmanuelle said simply. "And I'm packing up because class will be ending in about two minutes." she said without looking at the clock.

"But it's not dismissed yet dear. You still have questions to answer about the lesson."

"I know but-"

"And to pack up and leave is rather disruptive to the rest of the class don't you think?"

"Not as disruptive as having two teachers." she heard one of the Weasley boys snigger.

"It can be, yes." Emmanuelle said, shooting Fred Weasley a look, before looking back to Professor Umbridge. "I was only packing up because-"

"You do want your fellow students every opportunity to learn don't you?"

"Yes but-"

"And by disrupting them you are in fact inhibiting their learning, are you not?" she asked. "Not to mention failing to do the assigned class work."

"Emmanuelle," Professor Flitwick said coming to her rescue, pretending to be ignorant of what Umbridge was saying to her. "As always, well done on the questions my dear, it's no wonder you're head of your class."

"Thank you very much professor, I hope that turning in my work early didn't disrupt the other students from their learning." she said and he chuckled.

"So modest." he said waving his hand at her. "Oh, hello Dolores, having a chat with Ms. Volkov I see, she's quite a bright girl this one." he patted Emmanuelle's arm and a sour look crossed Umbridge's face.

"Yes, that's what I hear." she said, and looked at Emmanuelle. "So nice talking to you dear." she said laying on her syrupy thick sweet voice that Emmanuelle realized she could grow to hate. She looked at Flitwick who nodded to her as she gave him and appreciative smile, and then finished packing her things as the class ended. She was the last person out the door, when the Weasley twins came up on either side of her.

"It's odd isn't it?" Fred asked.

"Extremely." George answered and she rolled her eyes knowing they wouldn't stop until she took the bait.

"What?" she asked dully.

"Well, her, of course." Fred gestured with his thumb to Flitwick's classroom.

"Of course." she said nodding, and raised an eyebrow. "Spit it out Weasley, I've got things to do."

"She spends most of her time praising every Slytherin student for doing so little as blowing their nose-"

"Though that's all some of them know how to do-" Emmanuelle glared at Fred who grinned.

"But with you she takes you on like taking on a great bloody Hippogriff or something." George pointed out. "Why is that?"

"Because I'm a Volkov." she said simply and stopped walking causing the two of them to stop and turn to her. "It's not personal, it's business." she said simply, before nodding to them. "Good day." with that she turned on her heel and left.

The days went by slowly, Professor Umbridge appearing in a few of her classes, but not many, though stories of her actions in all classes made their way around the school, one in particular Emmanuelle smiled at when she heard about it came from the fifth year Gryffindor Transfiguration class, where she and Professor McGonagall and Professor Umbridge got into an argument in class. Though Emmanuelle had a good relationship with all of her teachers this woman was not a teacher. They did nothing in their class other then read, and for whatever reason, even doing that made her want to spend her afternoons skinning flubberworms or peeling mandrakes or anything really.

It was near the end of September when Odette came to her in the library (this time it was snogging couples free) with an idea. "Listen," Odette said in Russian, the language they spoke when they didn't want anyone to know what they were saying. "Luna Lovegood in my year told me something interesting."

"Oh?" Emmanuelle asked, not looking up from her Transfiguration essay.

"Harry Potter and his friends are holding a meeting for students who want to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts without Umbridge." she said and Emmanuelle paused, then looked up, her green eyes were inquisitive.

"I'm listening."

"It's being held in Hogsmead in the first weekend of October trip, and I said I'd go." Emmanuelle looked down, and seemed to be in thought for a good long moment. "I think we could learn a thing or two from him."

"I know." Emmanuelle said finally. "I agree. But she has eyes and ears all over the school."

"Yes," Odette said. "Which will make it more fun." Emmanuelle couldn't help but laugh at the very un Ravenclaw think her sister had just said and reached across the table to pat her sister on the shoulder.

"Okay." Emmanuelle said. "We'll go. Have you spoken to Sylvie?"

"She's excited."

"Good, good." Emmanuelle said, and looked at her essay again. "Was there something else?" she asked, Odette hadn't stopped looking at her.

"How have you been sleeping?" Odette asked in English and Emmanuelle shrugged as she wrote another line.

"I haven't." she said softly. Sunday I'll sleep in a bit, but until then, I'm too busy to sleep."

"You need to sleep Emmanuelle."

"And _you_ need to stop acting like mother." she said simply as she worked on her essay. "I'm fine Odette, go tell your friend we'll be there." she said and Odette sighed and stood up.

"Bye."

"Bye." Emmanuelle said and continued to work on her essay, but thought about what she had just agreed to. A group of students wanting to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, and deciding to do it without a teacher? She couldn't help but smile, she had done something similar in her past, not quite the same, but something along those lines.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a little while, I've been rewriting a script I wrote a few years ago, and I am trying to get my first film shot this month, but my makeup girl is actually leaving the country so I have to find someone else and I still need to find an actress who knows ASL (American Sign Language), not to mention I'm trying to get a cupcake business off the ground, so, needless to say things have been a little crazy to say in the least! Anyways, here's the new chapter, I think taking things slowly between Snape and Emmanuelle is important, but I also realize they need to move together, so I'm starting to nudge those two in the right direction, but I am totally open to suggestions if you want to leave them, I also totally love reviews, having said that, someone pointed out to me something in one of the previous chapters, an odd 'BrBrBr' between different dialogue, I used to write only on Quizilla, and had for years, and before they figured out how to make it so that you could just hit enter to make a break in a paragraph you had to use HTML codes in your uploaded chapters to make a break in paragraph. Because I wrote on there for so long I still write that between paragraphs and edit it out when I upload, and I guess I missed that one. Sorry about that, but thanks for pointing it out! I think I got it all out of this chapter, but no one is perfect! Not even Emmanuelle- contrary to popular belief. Well, I think I've rambled on long enough, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Severus Snape, or anything you may recognize, I'm not making any money off of this story, if you were to look at my bank account you would know that to be true.

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><p>The meeting, which ended up being at the Hog's Head was very interesting, and though most of the students seemed weary of having the Head Girl (a Slytherin nonetheless) there until she was surprised by Fred Weasly speaking up in her defense. "You should have seen the way Umbridge was talking to her in Flitwick's, she hates the Volkovs." Emmanuelle pursed her lips and crossed her arms at the memory.<p>

"The feeling is mutual." she said and a few students seemed to relax a little. "Besides, I see nothing wrong with this meeting." she nodded to Hermoine Granger who seemed to visibly relax a bit. After the meeting was over Emmanuelle excused herself from her sisters to speak to Fred Weasly for a moment. "Thank you." she said to him and he looked at her curiously. "For what you said.

"All I said was the truth." he shrugged. "You even said so yourself, she doesn't like you lot."

"It's her loss really." Emmanuelle shrugged and he grinned lightly. "But I know that the others weren't comfortable with the Slytherin Head girl making an appearance until you said what you did."

"No problem." he shrugged. "Someone ought to speak up for you, you never do it yourself." with that he turned and walked away making Emmanuelle blink in surprise. Just what did that mean? It was something that was bothering her for the next few days, until Sylvie Volkov came to Emmanuelle in the great hall one day at lunch.

"I've been given a detention." she said, tears of anger in her eyes.

"What for?" Emmanuelle asked and a few students jumped, not used to hearing her speak so loudly.

"Me and Angel-"

"Angel and I."

"Both of us," she said and Emmanuelle rolled her eyes but nodded to the distraught third year. "We were speaking in Russian and Professor Umbridge came up and accused up of speaking on tongues, and when I told her we were just speaking in papa's tongue she said something about plotting and how we were to be made an example of, and then gave us both detentions." Emmanuelle stared at her sister for a long moment, then nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay what? What can you do Emmanuelle, she's delusional."

"Keep your voice down." Emmanuelle hissed in Russian.

"Sorry."

"I'll talk to her." Emmanuelle said simply as she brushed off the front of her robes.

That evening Emmanuelle knocked on the door to Snape's study after her rounds. He looked up as she entered, and looked back to the essays he was grading. "Yes Ms. Volkov?" he asked and she approached the desk.

"The list of Slytherin students with detentions this week." she said and he took the list from her, noticing her usually passive look of indifference had been replaces by a slightly angry undertone. He looked over the list and his eyes paused at one name.

"May I ask why the head girl has been given a detention?" he asked turning his dark eyes up to her cool green ones. A small sneer crossed her delicate features.

"May I sit?" she asked and he nodded. She sat down and cleared her throat.

"My family often converses in Russian- It's papa's first tongue, and the only language our grandparents speak. Sometimes we forget we're speaking it, it's so natural to us. Apparently Sylvie and Angel were speaking in Russian together and Professor Umbridge heard them and thought them to be speaking in tongues, so she gave them detention." she said.

"She thought they were speaking in tongues?" he asked as though her were trying to understand the situation, which he was.

"Yes." she answered. "It's unbelievable, I know. So I think maybe it's a misunderstanding, and maybe I can explain to her that my family is just so used to speaking in Russian it's not something we do intentionally and she'll let Sylvie and Angel go if they promise to watch their language." she shook her head.

"Your sisters came to you?" he asked and she frowned lightly.

"Was it not you who commented on the first day of the strength of the Volkov family bond?" she asked and he nodded after a moment. "We tell each other everything, and they were quite upset Professor."

"I take it Professor Umbridge didn't accept your apology." he said and she shook her head.

"To say in the least." she said softly. "I've been given two, one for admitting to plotting- her words- and the other for questioning Hogwarts High Inquisitor." she pursed her lips slightly and shook her head. "I'm not here to whine professor, I'm not one to try and avoid taking responsibility for my actions, I'll do both detentions, and I'll do them without a fuss, but I want you to know before this I have never had a detention." with that she stood up and walked to the door. "Good night Professor." she said and he looked up at her as she slipped out of the door.

He let out a small sigh and shook his head and looked back at the essay he had been grading. He scowled and wrote a large D on the corner of it, and moved to the next essay, his thoughts drifting to what Emmanuelle had said. Aside from Roman he had never heard of a Volkov getting a detention, and the time with Roman was because he had been caught out of bed after hours, though the boy claimed to have been sleepwalking. He thought back to Emmanuelle, and realized she was right, he had never heard of the girl having a detention, as he had never heard of any of the other Volkov girls having detentions.

"Even perfection has a price." he muttered to himself, and then looked down at the essay, his mind going back to Emmanuelle, and the comment that he had just uttered. Did he really think she was perfect?

The next night Emmanuelle, Sylvie and Angel appeared in Umbridge's office and were given a quill each and a parchment to write lines.

"You'll be writing 'I must not plot'." Professor Umbridge said.

"How many times?" Sylvie asked and Professor Umbridge smirked in a way a large toad might right before catching a fly.

"Oh, as many times as needed to ensure you won't forget." she said and Sylvie rolled her eyes. A moment after writing the first line there was a collective gasp from the girls.

A small cut instantly appearing on the backs of their hands, then quickly disappearing. Emmanuelle bit her lip and looked at Sylvie, then to Angel, this was not going to be easy. A good hour and a half passed, the message getting cut deeper and deeper into their hands, Angel had broken first and started crying almost twenty minutes in, and had hardly stopped since. "Let me see your hands." Umbridge said and raised an eyebrow when Emmanuelle showed the old toad her left hand, but said nothing. "Very well, you may leave. The eldest Ms. Volkov will return here tomorrow night, same time."

"Yes ma'am." Emmanuelle said as her sisters looked at her in horror. She said nothing to them, just nodded and they followed her to the door, when Emmanuelle suddenly stopped and turned to the sadistic woman. "Good night Professor Umbridge." she said sweetly, making Professor Umbridge blink in surprise. Sylvie, noticing the look on the teacher's face quickly did the same, in the same super sweet tone, and Angel, following in her elder sister's lead did the same, before the three of them walked out. They got down a flight before Angle latched herself onto Emmanuelle and sobbed into her shoulder as Sylvie rubbed the young girl's back.

"What is this?" a deep voice asked making Sylvie and Angel jump in surprise, and Emmanuelle quickly pass Angel to Sylvie and stand up quickly.

"Professor," she said to Snape who looked her over curiously, his eyes landing on her bleeding hand that she quickly moved behind her back. "I have every intention of telling you exactly what happened, but first I'd like your permission to escort my sisters to their respective common rooms." she said looking him in the eye. He looked back at the two crying Volkov girls and then back at Emmanuelle who licked her lips before speaking. "I'll be there in ten minutes." she said and he gave her a long look before nodding sharply. Emmanuelle sighed and then led her sisters away from the hall. They dropped off Angel first, Emmanuelle conjured a roll of gauze and wrapped it around Angel's hand and then had a talk with her before hugging her tightly and sending her off to bed.

"The old hag is sick." Sylvie said as they walked. "I can't stand the sight of her."

"I know." Emmanuelle said softly.

"You aren't really going to tell Snape are you?"

"I don't know Sylvie."

"B-but he's evil! He's probably on her side!"

"In all of the years of me being in his house, I have never heard of Professor Snape actually harming a student, nor have I heard of him siding with anyone who does." Emmanuelle defended her potions master carefully.

"Elle, he's so- Slytherin!"

"Thank you Sylvie," she said sarcastically. "From both Roman and myself."

"I didn't mean it like that, I just- Don't trust him like you do."

"I know." Emmanuelle said and shook her head. "Look, go to bed, I have to go talk to him." she said and hugged her sister.

"You can't go back tomorrow!" Sylvie said and Emmanuelle shook her head.

"Go to bed. I'll figure it out." with that Sylvie sighed, then went to her common room. Emmanuelle walked downstairs, passing Ron Weasley, the Gryffindor prefect finishing up his rounds.

"Report to Dhey, I'll get it from him." she said as he tried to give her his report. She went straight to the dungeons and knocked (right handed) on Snape's office door. He opened it and held the door open, allowing her to step into the room quickly. "To be honest professor, I came here with every intention of lying to you. I had planned on telling you that Angel was upset about having gotten a detention in her first year, but I find myself..." she looked for the right word, and noticed the look he was giving her. "Incapable of lying to you." she said finally. He raised his eyebrows and she held out her left hand. He looked at the back of it for a long moment before he reached out and took her hand in his, running his thumb over the fresh cuts in the back of it.

"What did this?" he asked finally.

"I did." she said softly and he looked at her in confusion. "Professor Umbridge has this quill, it's long and black and it doesn't use ink." she let out a small laugh, and for the first time Severus saw pure, unadulterated hatred in Emmanuelle's eyes. "It uses the writer's blood Professor. She used that- that _Thing_ on an eleven year old girl for speaking in Russian!" she ranted and let out a long breath as he led her to the desk. He gave sat her down in a chair across from his desk and went to his stores, returning with a bowl of a yellow liquid.

"Put your hand in that." he said and she did, the pain instantly subsiding.

"Oh thank you Professor." she sighed and shut her eyes as she leaned back in her chair slightly.

"You have another detention with her tomorrow, do you not?"

"I do." she answered without opening her eyes.

"What for?"

"Questioning the choices deemed fit by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor." she opened her eyes as he stepped closer to her and held out a towel, which she took and tried off her hand, then he surprised her by sitting in the chair across from her hand gesturing for her hand. He wordlessly started to wrap her hand in gauze, making Emmanuelle look at him as he did. His dark eyes were focused on what he was doing, and his pale skin seemed almost illuminated by the flickering of the fire in the fireplace (How had she not noticed that before?). He paused to cut the gauze with a pair of thick silver scissors and then tie it off, before he looked up at her as she watched him. He wasn't unattractive, Emmanuelle decided, sure he wasn't the most handsome man she had seen in her short seventeen years, but, there was something about him, something bookish, and almost compassionate that lay hidden under his tough exterior. She chewed on her lip before she stood up quickly. "Good night Professor." she said quickly as she left the classroom.


	10. Chapter 10

Hi there ya'll, I hope you like this chapter! I haven't slept in five days! Wheeee! Okay, I slept, but only a few hours a night, but only a few, and it's getting to my head. Well, not really my head, more like it's getting to my speech patterns, I lived in the South for a few years, and when I came back to California I had a very thick accent, one that got me teased, so I learned to speak without it. When I'm either very very tired, or very very drunk I start speaking with it again. For the past two days I've sounded like I just crawled out of the other side of the Mason Dixon line- or the Bible belt whichever is more PC. But anyways, that has nothing to do with this chapter, I just felt like sharing. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize except for the Volkov family. But nothing else.

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><p>The next day Emmanuelle had potions class, and Professor Snape decided to pair them off to work on the potion he decided to assign them. She was partnered with Devon, who she found out was a good potions brewer, but he was rather sexist about it, not letting her prepare or help with the potion at all, which really only irritated her. He insisted, rather that she work on the notes. "Devon, do you not realize that I am in the Advanced N.E.W.T.s class as well?" she asked as she tried to talk some sense into him.<p>

"And how many women potion masters do you see?" he asked and she frowned. "Trust me Emmanuelle, your father would agree with me on this."

It took everything she had not to drown him in the cauldron and instead stuck to writing the notes like he asked. It seemed her bad day was only getting worse as she was on the receiving end of one of Peeves' pranks involving a gallon of lake water, not that it was meant for her, she was just the unlucky one to round that particular corner at that particular moment.

She dried herself off with her wand, and then quickly ran to class, only to find her essay was ruined, after explaining the incident with Peeves she was granted an expansion, giving her until Monday to come up with the essay again, on top of the two others she was assigned that day, and then she had another detention with Doloris. As she walked to the classroom, she nearly ran into the Potter boy and she smiled lightly at him when she saw him.

"You too huh?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow, before noticing the bandage on the back of her hand. "May I?" she asked and he held out his hand, taking that moment to look her over. Her curly blonde hair hung past her shoulders and her clear white skin reminded him of an angel- that was a good comparison, she looked like the Christmas Angel the Dursleys put atop their Christmas tree every year, if she were to wear a flowing white dress and hold a candle in her hands he would think the bloody thing hand come to life, but now all he was Emmanuelle. She looked up, a sad smile on her lips as she looked away from his hand. "Rather hypocritical isn't it?" she asked.

"What?" he asked and she gestured to his hand.

"Calling you the liar when they're the ones who can't come to terms with reality." she said and then looked to the door that was opening behind them. "Good luck Potter." she said and then straightened up, and cleared her face of any emotions as they walked through the room, Emmanuelle chose to sit closer to Umbridge, Harry noticed as he tried to think about anything but the pain in his hand. Even in a situation where she was powerless she was putting herself before the students. After an hour and a half of writing Emmanuelle and Harry both were dismissed.

"Hey, Emmanuelle," Harry called as she walked away, cradling her left hand. She turned and he could see tears glittering in her eyes, but he chose to overlook them. "Try soaking your hand in Murtlap Essence. It seems to help."

"It's yellow, yeah?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah." he said and she smiled gently.

"Thanks Harry." she said and then cleared her throat. "I'm looking forward to our next meeting." he nodded knowing what she meant and as he watched the life sized Christmas Angel walk away he decided he liked her. Not in a romantic way or anything, she was two years older than him, but for a Slytherin and the Head girl, she wasn't that bad.

Emmanuelle got to her room, her eyes stinging with tears, her hand throbbing in pain, she tried taking deep breaths, it didn't help, she tried wrapping it, the pressure only made it worse, and so finally she went to the only place she knew she could for relief.

Professor Snape must have been expecting her because the bowl of murtlap was already sitting on his desk, she walked to him calmly, he couldn't help but notice how she kept herself composed, and after dipping her hand into the cooling liquid she let out a soft moan of relief. "Eggshells Professor." she said and he nodded. "May I ask you something?" she asked and he nodded as he continued to grade homework. Some nights he felt like all he did was grade homework. He had started to hate that word. And the word Grade. And the red ink he kept in his desk. "Is there any possibility of me being able to switch partners in potions?"

"Is there something wrong with your current partner?"

"Aside from the fact that he's an ignorant sexist who believes that women ought not takes potions class, no." she said and he couldn't help but smirk at that comment, her dry humor wasn't what he expected from her.

"And who would you have me exchange him for, Douglas Flannery?" he asked and she snorted.

"The Only Hufflepuff in the class. Do you think he was being brave or foolish?"

"Well he hasn't yet blown up a cauldron, like some other students I have." his eyes darkened and she chuckled as she pulled her hand from the murtlap essence and looked at the cuts.

"Do you think this'll scar?" she asked as she dabbed at it with a small towel. He looked at her hand as she turned it so he could see.

"It shouldn't be too noticeable." he said after a moment.

"I wonder if Igor is turned off by scars."

"As a former Death Eater, I'd think he's seen his fair share of them."

"True." she sighed and started to wrap her hand, after a moment of watching her struggle he sighed and put down his quill before standing up and walking around the desk to where she was. "Thank you Professor." she said softly as he tied the bandage for her. She stood up, he was still standing there, rather closely he noticed, as she inspected the bandage on her hand, and then looked up at him. "Can she do this?" she asked and he thought about his answer before he swallowed and finally spoke.

"She thinks she can." he said and Emmanuelle sighed gently and nodded.

"So what can we do about it?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow.

"Be as careful as you can around her. It's obvious she has a strange obsession with disliking the Volkov family, so there's no reason to allow it to escalate."

"Thank you again professor." she said softly and then she walked out of the room.

The next day was really hard, not just because of the amount of homework, and her left hand was killing her, but it was raining as well which meant no students outside, which meant during break, everyone was inside. And as Head Girl she was partly in charge of keeping an eye on all of the students, as best as she could.

It didn't help that Peeves was throwing ink pellets at people, cackling madly and making a fool of himself- as usual. It was only after Peeves hit a girl in Gryffindor, one of the girls on the Quidditch team and the girl jumped up and started throwing things at the poltergeist did Emmanuelle realize something. "That's enough!" Emmanuelle said moving through the crowds of people to the girl, some of the Gryffindors around stared at her darkly as she reprimanded the girl. "It's not doing you any good and you know that!"

"But look!" she protested and Emmanuelle rolled her eyes.

"Peeves, this day is hard enough without you being difficult, go find someone else to bother for awhile!" she said fiercely to the poltergeist who stuck out his tongue and blew a large raspberry, but left all the same. It was only after there was an outraged shriek from the hall, where Peeves had dumped the last remaining ink pellets on Umbridge did Emmanuelle realize she had an ally in making Umbridge's life at Hogwarts a less then pleasant one.


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